Christ is Alive!

sermon by Torin Eikler
John 20:1-18

The Lord is Risen!

The dark days are over.  The stone has been rolled away.  Death has been defeated.  And Christ has opened the way to eternal life and joy in the embrace of God.  Christ is alive!

 

That is the eternal message of Easter – the promise laid out for us in the scriptures – the gift given to us in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.  Sometimes we lose sight of that as we walk through the stories year after year and get caught up in the details of what happened and the experiences of those who witnessed the miracle of that first morning.  Still the power and promise and hope remains, and it is cause for us to celebrate.

So I was taken aback several years ago, when I found myself talking to someone who seemed to be disturbed by Easter morning worship.  I was working with youth at the Disciples of Christ church at the time, and this young man came into the classroom the week after Easter looking very disturbed.  I was concerned myself because I knew that he had a difficult family life, and I was worried that something might have happened at home.  But when I asked him what was the problem, he asked me a question in return.

“Did Jesus have to die?”

“What?” I said.

 

“What?” … That was my brilliant reply.  His question caught me so off guard that I couldn’t think of anything else to say.  And it turned out to be a good reply, because it opened the door for him to tell me about the struggle he had been having that week, wondering why Jesus had to die.  If God was so powerful and loving, he thought, why would he send his son to Earth just to be killed as a sacrifice?

I spent some time explaining that, from my perspective, Jesus did not have to die.  He came to teach us and show the way of life that would bring the Kingdom – that would bring heaven on earth, and that kind of change didn’t sit well with the people who were in power.  So, rather than allow him to continue, they killed him.  He let them do it because he understood the importance of treating each other with love, the power of forgiveness, and our need to follow God even if it takes us to the cross.  “But,” I told him, “things might have been different if everyone would have listened to him.  If everyone had gotten the message, the world might have become paradise in one lifetime.” 

I told him that because I believe it.  I believed it then, and I believe it now.  Jesus life was more important than his death, … and I think that his resurrection validates that claim.

And yet, I have been thinking a lot about Jesus’ death this year.  I’ve been thinking about death in general more than usual.  I’ve been looking around at the way that the hard winter and the late frosts have killed off some of the plants and even frozen the leaves of many of the hardiest shrubs and ivies in our neighborhood.  And I guess that has made me a little bit sad.

But this week I noticed that newer, more vibrant leaves and shoots are coming out on those very same vines and branches that still hold the brittle memories of previous years.  I have noticed new seedlings growing up through the browned and decaying collections of weeds and other plants that took too much encouragement from the earlier warm spells.  And I was reminded of a truth I learned as a child and again as a youth … and again as a young man – death makes way for new life.

 

I have come to feel that Jesus’ death was important … that even the manner of his dying – held up for all to see – was important.  It made space in the hearts and minds of the disciples.  It cleared out the brittle hopes and the decaying expectations of glory that had collected over their years following the strange, wise, prophetic miracle worker they had come to call teacher and friend.  It prepared the way for something new – something more vibrant … more wonderful – to take root.

I see that happening in the story of Mary and the disciples rushing to the tomb.  Lost and confused they left their huddled grief and confusion behind them to run and see what had happened to Jesus’ body.  They found the empty tomb and the first shoots of new hope and faith began to sprout in their hearts as they walked back to the others.  Mary stood, though, her tears pouring from her heart and watering the earth that had been covered by stone.  She stayed, looking for more … hoping for something.  She looked and saw not only angelic messengers but the very face of the risen Christ, and whole new fields of possibility sprang to life within her, beckoning her to grab hold of new life, calling her to share the good news.

 

Not just good news for the disciples.  Not just good news for the people of Israel.  Good news for us.  Christ is alive!  He has risen from the tomb and goes before to prepare the way.  He calls out to all people through the Spirit that lives within. 

He calls out, inviting to those who would follow him to step onto the new way he has opened to us. 

He calls out … calls us by name,

            gently beckons:
                    “Come to me.  Embrace new life.”

Christ is alive.  Let us rejoice!